Manufacturer BenQ has been one of the most reliable producers of high-quality PC gaming monitors for well over a decade. PC gamers know that if you’re looking for a durable monitor that makes your games look fantastic, you’ll want to get a BenQ gaming monitor. With the BenQ RL2755HM gaming monitor, BenQ turns its attention to an oft-neglected segment of the monitor market: console gamers.

Even though most console gamers prefer to use their television as their primary screen, there is a growing contingent of eSports players who are gravitating more towards monitors as their go-to display. While most monitor manufacturers think of console gaming as an afterthought, the BenQ RL2755HM gaming monitor is a spectacular monitor that any console gamer should own.

Appearance and Function

The first thing you’ll notice about the BenQ RL2755HM gaming monitor is that it’s one stylish piece of hardware, sporting angular black plastic with a matte finish. The base of this display is slimmer than other gaming monitors, letting you rest it comfortably on narrower surfaces such as a kitchen counter. Its compact frame combined with its lightweight nature gives the BenQ RL277HM a good degree of portability, perfect for gamers who find themselves frequently travelling.

One unique feature of the BenQ RL2755HM gaming monitor is an angular section at its base designed to hold your gaming controller. This stand uses a slip-proof material to ensure that you gaming controllers stay in place and makes a great storage alternative to shoving your controller into a drawer or just leaving them out in the open.

Unfortunately, the BenQ RL255HM gaming monitor falters when it comes to making adjustments to the monitor. While the RL255HM does include about 25 degrees of tilt, you cannot raise or lower the screen nor can you rotate it to portrait orientation. The monitor does include a built-in plastic cable guide that will help organize your cables, though you’ll want to be careful as this cable guide is on the flimsy side and is prone to breakage.

Connectivity

The BenQ RL2755HM gaming monitor includes the standard assortment of video inputs you’d expect from a gaming monitor, including HDMI, VGA and DVI inputs. Where the BenQ RL2755HM gaming monitor shows that it’s a true console gaming monitor is that it includes two HDMI inputs to support multiple gaming consoles, whereas most PC gaming monitors include only one. In addition to these video connections, you’ll also find the standard audio input and headphone jack.

Inside the box, you’ll find an HDMI cable, a 3.5mm audio cable and the usual plethora of paperwork. While it’s likely that you already have an HDMI cable from your gaming console purchase, it’s never a bad idea to have a spare.

Unfortunately for console gamers, the BenQ RL2755HM gaming monitor includes no analog video inputs, such as composite, S-Video or component ports. If you’re looking for a gaming monitor for your retro consoles like the NES or Sega Genesis, you’ll need to keep looking.

Speakers

The BenQ RL2755HM gaming monitor provides your standard built-in speakers, with each speaker measuring two watts in power. As you would expect from such low wattage, these speakers are hardly ideal for gaming, with the sound emanating from them lacking both bass and depth. While these built-in speakers are suitable for short-term usage, you’ll want to invest in a high-quality pair of gaming speakers or headphones as soon as possible.

Menu

The menu system is your standard interface that is simple enough even for gamers who have never tweaked any monitor settings before. You’ll find the usual sliders for standard settings such as sharpness or contrast along with sliders for more advanced settings such as the color level. To select options in the interface, you’ll use a set of buttons found on the underside of the monitor; while it’s initially cumbersome to navigate the menus in this manner, after a few minutes of practice, it will feel like second nature.

Viewing Angle

The 170-degree viewing angle found on the BenQ RL2755HM gaming monitor ensures that you can view it from a multitude of angles without the picture appearing washed out; the only time the quality dips is when you view the screen from the very top or the side. For this reason, the BenQ RL2755HM gaming monitor is an excellent choice for local multiplayer gaming, as everyone can enjoy the screen without worrying that one player will have to deal with a subpar picture.

Color and Resolution

As you’d expect, the BenQ RL2755HM gaming monitor provides a beautiful picture and a sharp resolution, though it’s the features that the manufacturer packs in to supplement the color and resolution that make the monitor truly stand out.

It’s common for your average HDTV to have a “Game Mode,” which is a mode where the settings of your television are optimized to display the perfect picture for video games. Rather than assigning the same image settings to every game with one broad stroke, BenQ includes multiple picture modes in the RL2755HM that tailor themselves towards different genres of games. For example, “Fighting Mode” will look to provide a colorful picture that reduces lag in games like Street Fighter V while “FPS Mode” tailors itself towards amplifying the gritty realism of games like Call of Duty.

Gamers who prefer to tweak their color settings themselves on a game-by-game basis will love the Color Vibrance setting. This slider allows users to add or subtract color vivacity to their display; adding color will result in a more vivid picture while decreasing it will make the picture appear more washed out. Despite what you may think, there is an upside to removing color from your game; removing the color eliminates the little amounts of input lag that are present in the BenQ RL2755HM. While most gamers will likely never use the Color Vibrance setting this way, it’s ideal for eSports professionals who don’t mind sacrificing detail for responsiveness.

Gamers will also love the proprietary Black eQualizer feature that lightens grays and blacks and reduces shadows. While many gamers will scoff at the idea of further reducing image quality, players who immerse themselves in multiplayer games will find this feature to be an incredible boon. By reducing the dark spots in a game, such as those found in the corners, you’ll find that it’s far easier to spot your opponents and get the drop on them. That sniper who thought he had the perfect hiding place will have no idea how you found him!

With a max screen resolution of 1920 x 1080, your console games will look amazing when displayed on this high-quality gaming monitor. For games that don’t display at a native 1080p resolution, the BenQ RL2755HM gaming monitor will automatically scale to the proper resolution rather than upscale it.

Lag

With a 1ms response time, the BenQ RL2755H gaming monitor almost eliminates lag, motion blur and screen tearing from your console games. While other gaming monitors may struggle with fast-paced games such as Forza Motorsport 6 and Overwatch, the BenQ RL2755HM will provide a smooth picture even under the most hectic of circumstances. You’ll also notice button presses from your controller registering onscreen far quicker when using the BenQ RL2755H thanks to the 1ms response time.

Price

At $260 – $300, the BenQ RL2755HM gaming monitor is more expensive than most televisions of the same size. However, you won’t find any 27-inch HDTV sets that boast as many gamer-specific features as the RL2755HM gaming monitor. If you’re a professional gamer who wants to ensure that lag won’t rear its ugly head, it’s worth it to spend the extra bucks for a lag-free experience.

Conclusion

Whether you’re an eSports participant or just someone who loves console gaming, the BenQ RL2755HM gaming monitor is a love letter to gaming consoles. From the slip-proof stand for your gaming controllers to the game-specific display options, BenQ has put the needs of console gamers at the forefront in every step of the design process. While there are cheaper alternatives when it comes to display options for gaming consoles, none of them will give you the sublime experience that the BenQ RL2755HM gaming monitor provides. If you’re prepared to pay a bit more over the cost of an HDTV, the BenQ RL275HM gaming monitor is one purchase you won’t regret.